May 20, 2024 • 22 mins
Is it possible to still make money even with the economy looking gloomy?
The short answer is yes, it's just a little more difficult to manage. So, in this episode, I'm drawing on three decades of business experience and sharing practical, hands-on strategies for small business owners navigating the current financial landscape.
Forget the noise of negativity and scarcity, it's time to start fresh and focus on the positives and prepare your business to for the inevitable upswing.
It's time to get scrappy, refine your offerings, update your pricing, focus on your loyal client base and look at new markets. I'll walk you through the importance of solid systems and cash flow processes so you're ready for the opportunities for growth that come your way.
This episode is brought to you by Become A Business Money Magnet - Simple habits to manage your money and supercharge your profits!
Want 30 Ways to Save Money in your Business? Download the guide here.
Need a business finance coach or want to get your pricing sorted? Book a Strategy Call NOW.
Join the conversation
Connect with Justine:
Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn
Website
Discover the Secrets of Successful Business Facebook page
Follow Justine on Instagram @flossifiles or @secretsofsuccessfulbusiness
Host: Justine McLean – Flossi Creative
Producer: Leah Stanistreet – Snappystre...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey.
It's my business and I'll do itmy way, how they started,
rather than going harder to getmore focus on growing more with
(00:25):
what you have, what they learnedalong the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make?
Just because you can do itdoesn't mean that you should do
it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It's really important to remember that it's a long
game and, of course, we'll askthem for their secret sauce for
creating a successful business.
If you're not failing, you'renot doing it right.
You should be struggling attimes.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain, talk
solutions for those businesspain points, working smarter,
not harder, mindset and thechallenges of fitting it all in
(00:57):
with the demands of today's busylifestyle.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FlossieCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
(01:37):
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now withoutfurther ado.
Let's dive into today's episode.
Hello and welcome to thepodcast.
(02:06):
A few weeks ago, I sat down witha business bestie and we were
talking about the state ofbusiness here in Australia and
around the world, particularlysmall business, because, let's
be honest, the economyeverywhere, no matter what
country you're listening to thispodcast from, is a little bit
funky at the moment.
Things are expensive, peopleare not buying the way they used
(02:27):
to and, as I've said before,it's definitely not business as
usual.
So I thought, between that andall the questions that I got
after my Profit First podcastepisode, and if you haven't
listened to that one.
Jump on back over and take alisten.
Now it's episode 147.
(02:48):
I thought I would jump on todayand tell you that, although
times are tough yes, Icompletely acknowledge that, and
I know how tough they are forsmall business and the leads are
not as prevalent as they oncewere, and the people that you
are currently working with areprobably looking for great
(03:11):
bargains or discounts, this timewill pass.
In my 30 years of experience,I've been through this a couple
of times before.
It's definitely the winter ofbusiness, but rather than
listening to all the doom andthe gloom that surrounds us, I
think it's a real opportunityright now to go back to business
(03:33):
basics and get your businessready and set for when things do
improve.
Because one thing I know forsure things will absolutely
improve and it will probably befaster than you think.
So why not take this downtimeto really take a deep dive into
(03:53):
your business and look at somethings that are definitely going
to help you become the businessmoney magnet that you deserve
to be?
And these are things that youcan do even when times are tough
and, who knows, they might justmove the needle for you now, so
that you won't be waiting formonths or until things in
(04:15):
business in general improve.
So the first thing that I wantto talk about is mindset,
because, let's be honest, youjust need to turn on the news
and there's bad news about theeconomy and small business, or
interest rates or the cost offuel going up or insurances, or
how health insurance is nolonger affordable, or that you
(04:38):
can't rent a room anywherebecause it's out of reach and
there is a lack of affordablehousing around, and all that is
true.
Unfortunately, what happenswhen we're surrounded by all of
this negativity?
It starts to bring up for usall of those things that sit on
the negative spectrum in ourmindset.
(05:00):
If you had a money story aroundscarcity growing up and tend to
influence your money situationthrough that story, so maybe
your mindset around money is alittle bit fixed, or you feel
like you'll never have enoughmoney.
There's that scarcity mentalityor generally you're just
worried about money all of thetime.
Those sorts of negativemessages are definitely going to
(05:23):
trigger a response thatprobably isn't going to be
helpful right now, and whileit's hard to just give yourself
a pep talk and stay positive,the truth is that money mindset
and a positive money mindset.
Fostering that positive moneymindset, especially during tough
times, is really important.
So one of the tips that I cangive you right now is to watch
(05:47):
how you speak about money andyour business, because language
matters.
I heard someone say the otherday that when we're talking
about losing weight, we oftensay I just want to lose a few
kilos.
And the truth about losingsomething is, when you lose
something, you probably want tofind it again.
The idea behind that sort oflanguage was that if you lose
(06:10):
weight today, then you mightjust gain it back tomorrow,
because that sort of language isexactly what you're saying.
So, rather than saying I wantto lose weight maybe it's I want
to release a few kilos.
Release so that they go away,see you later and they never
come back.
So, while it might seem alittle bit silly, just thinking
about money in that positivesense, talking about money in
(06:34):
that positive sense might justhelp your mindset, even when all
the messages that you heararound you are not very helpful.
So, instead of oh, I've got noleads, it could be.
I'm actually working on thisavenue and this avenue to get
some more leads in my businessright now, and I'm looking
forward to that helping me.
So it's very much a change inthe way you talk about money,
(06:57):
you talk about your business,and hopefully that fosters a
more positive mindset.
The next thing that I think isreally important right now is to
take the time to focus on thefinancial foundations in your
business.
So for this term in Business,money Magnet my 12-month program
, which you can join at any time, by the way we're focusing on
(07:19):
profit.
So we started off by addressingthe elephant in the room and
talking about our mindset, andwe've done that.
And over the last few weeks,what we've done is we've really
taken a deep dive into ourbusiness.
So we started off by looking atthis business ideology that
making a profit in business isas simple as getting the revenue
(07:41):
up and the costs down.
So what were ways that we couldget our revenue up and get our
costs down?
And we began the process byreally taking a deep dive into
our pricing and by that, pullingtogether all of the elements
that create the price that youneed to charge for your service
(08:01):
or your product and making sureall of those elements were right
, but, most importantly,thinking about things like what
do I want my profit number to be?
Because, again, when businessis slow, we probably forego
profit.
What do I want my salary to beas we walk through business?
What do I want my salary to beas we walk through business?
(08:23):
Probably you're the last personwho gets paid when the cash
flow isn't coming in.
So we looked at all of thosethings and then what we did was
start to pull apart all of theexpenses that go into not just
our businesses, but there was anexercise where we also jumped
into all of those personalexpenses that we had as well.
People were saving money oninsurance and phone plans, both
(08:46):
business and personal.
It was a really valuableexercise Building those
financial foundations, reallyunderstanding what it costs you
to run your business,understanding how to read
reports to know what sort ofprofit that you want to make, to
get that cash flow managementset up in your business, to have
a regular date with yourself amoney Monday, a finance Friday
(09:10):
so you could explore all ofthose things and complete all of
those tasks that you need tocomplete in terms of the
financial side of your business.
All those things were importantbecause when you have them in
place, when you have those firmfinancial foundations, you're
more likely to make greatbusiness decisions because
(09:32):
everything is in place.
The next thing that you want tothink about, particularly now
and this goes back to profit ismaking sure that you do that
exercise that I was talkingabout, where you're really
having a look at what yourexpenses are, the salary that
you want to earn, the profitthat you want to take in your
business, how much you need tosave for taxes and into your
(09:53):
rainy day account, and thenlooking at that jumping off
point for your pricing, becausemost us, when a business is slow
, will have a knee-jerk reactionto just discount our products,
discount our services, and whileI don't mind a good discount,
I'm as on board with that as thenext person.
You can't run a business that'smodel is always discounting or
(10:17):
competing against someone elsevia discounts, because it's just
a race to the bottom.
So don't get involved in that.
Look at your pricing.
Look to price for profit,regardless of whether you have
10 new leads coming through thedoor or one, so that every time
you deliver a service, everytime you sell a product, that
you're actually making moneythat's going towards covering
(10:40):
your costs, and that you'remaking money and profit in your
business.
I think one of the things inaddition to discounting, that
people tend to do when thingsare a bit slow is they almost
become paralyzed.
They're not sure what to doabout their pricing, whether
they should slash their prices,discount, put prices up.
But maybe it's as simple aslooking at all of the different
(11:02):
things that you're offering toyour clients and really
streamlining those offers sothat what you do offer has
absolute value.
It's absolutely packed withvalue for your client and you're
delivering that in a way thatis easy for you, effortless for
you, but that is going to givethem the most bang for their
(11:22):
buck.
It could be that when you doyour pricing exercise, when you
have a look at the offers thatyou've currently got going and
you're thinking to yourselfpeople aren't buying my $2,000
offer, for example, my $2,000service package, or my offer at
$199 a month.
Maybe they'll buy at half thatprice or maybe they'll buy at a
(11:43):
third of that price.
So what is it that you canpackage up and deliver that is
still going to keep the lightson in your business but is going
to help those customers thatneed your help right now,
because people still need helpin their business right now.
As I said, this is really a timeto set those foundations, to
get everything firing insideyour business so that when
(12:06):
business does pick up, you'reready to go.
And through this time, throughthis lean time, you're also
fostering those relationshipswhere you're developing
relationships with people sothat you can really start to
push the needle when thingsimprove In my business.
For example, I've got a $27offer that I am going to be
(12:28):
sending out in July.
That offer is in conjunctionwith a business buddy of mine
and we're doing it because weknow that we've got products
that are genuinely going to helppeople.
So the idea is that we do lowoffer, high volume.
We hopefully then collect awhole lot of clients who are
interested in working with us inthe future.
(12:50):
So that's one way.
I've got a book that isavailable right now for pre-sale
.
So I have got a whole series ofoffers around that book to
encourage people not only to buybut to potentially buy and
experience what it's like towork with me as well.
So really important to look atyour pricing, look at your
(13:11):
offers and get those foundationsset up so that you have got
everything in place when thingsimprove.
Now, of course, behind thescenes, the back end of that
it's having all of those systemsand processes in place to
support your offer, to supportyour business, so that, when
things do escalate, whenbusiness does improve again and
(13:33):
I said it will, I promise youyou're ready to go you don't
have to worry about suddenlyfinding a VA or getting that new
system in place or gosh, how amI invoicing here, or what's the
payment gateway that I'm goingto be using.
All really important things tothink about now, when business
is a little quieter and youmight have that time on your
(13:55):
hands.
The other thing to think aboutnow is really cash flow.
So, in a business crisis, whenthings are a little slower, cash
flow is one of the things thatdries up the fastest, and it's
also the thing that can stop usin our tracks when it comes to
running our business.
So cash flow is about makingsure you've always got money in
(14:18):
the bank, knowing what's comingin and when and, more
importantly, knowing what yourliabilities are, what is going
out and when, and so I think,right now, it's super important
to have a look at your expenses,make sure that you are not
paying for something that youreally don't need right now,
something you could pause, evenif it's just for a few weeks or
(14:39):
a few months so that you justmake sure you've got that cash
flow in your business to notonly pay for your business to
keep running but to pay foryourself.
Really important that you keeppaying yourself to pay your
superannuation and also to payyour staff, because they're the
things that are going to keepyour business going.
The other thing that I want tomention about becoming a money
(15:03):
magnet a business money magnetwhen things are not business as
usual is that some of thebiggest success stories come out
of the lean times in business.
It's the businesses who canlook at what's going on around
them and adapt that are going tobe the most successful.
(15:25):
I was talking to a businessowner the other day and she had
actually been talking abouttalking to another business
owner, so it's a third or asecondhand story.
But she'd been talking aboutsomeone who bought a winery and
then COVID hit and so peopleweren't coming to the cellar
door.
They didn't have thatopportunity to walk in and try
(15:46):
the wine in the region which wasobviously that tourist element
was a big part of the sales fortheir winery.
They didn't have a greatdistribution model, they weren't
really well known, and so thisparticular business owner
thought okay, how can I adapt,how can I change things now when
business it's not business asusual, so that I can keep going?
(16:10):
I can keep my businesssurviving and hopefully thriving
through this period until COVIDis over and things start to
open up again.
And so that particular businessowner started a couple of side
businesses that not only helpedother business owners in the
district but also meant that shecould deliver information about
(16:32):
her winery and wines online.
Such smart ideas and thosecouple of side hustles are now
businesses that are just as bigas the winery that she bought.
So there's always possibilitiesto do something different, and
I'm sharing this because youmight be sitting back looking at
your business right now andthinking, well, what is it that
(16:55):
I can do?
Nobody's buying what I'mselling.
I might as well give up, Imight as well walk away and I've
heard that a couple of timesover the last few weeks, that's
for sure.
But I think now is the time toreally take a moment and look at
your business and see where youmight be able to adapt, where
you might be able to change yourbusiness or add something extra
(17:17):
to just to navigate these toughtimes, if you've been in
business for a while or you'vebeen doing something for a while
, then you've got moreexperience than someone who's
only been doing it for a month.
Perhaps share a mentoringsession or give a free workshop
on your area of expertise.
Keep giving to your community.
(17:39):
Start a newsletter, reach outto people, resurrect an old
newsletter.
Look at platforms like LinkedInor Pinterest, where you can
actually have a bit more of asay and collect the sort of
customers that will beinterested in buying your thing
and buying your new things asyou adapt during this time.
(18:03):
I think resilience is one of themost important parts of being a
business owner and, let's behonest, you definitely need to
have a thick skin in business.
But being able to really becomethat money magnet to thrive in
business when everything aroundyou is going pear-shaped often
(18:23):
comes back to consistency andresilience, and I think that
when you look at your businessnow, rather than feeling
negative and despondent aboutwhat's going on and I totally
acknowledge and get that mightbe the default now I think you
just need to pull on thatresilience muscle, exercise that
(18:45):
muscle and instead flip thestory, flip your mindset and
think okay, what is it that Ican do right now.
That is going to set myself upand set my business up for
success when things improve.
So, as I said, it's mindset.
It's looking at all of thosefinancial foundations making
(19:05):
sure you know what you'retalking about, that you've got
all the things in place that youneed to have in place.
That could be just dedicatedbusiness bank accounts.
That might be setting up acloud accounting file like Xero,
myob, quickbooks something likethat.
Looking at your pricing, makingsure that you are really focused
on the profit element in yourbusiness.
(19:27):
Whether you are turning over$40,000 or $400,000, profit is
the key to business success.
So make sure that you'repricing for profit, that you
know what your profit number isand that you've built that into
your business.
Looking after your cash flow,getting rid of some of those
expenses that you don't need.
Making sure that you arecontinuing to pay yourself, not
(19:51):
just for now but for the futureas well, and looking for those
opportunities to adapt andthrive when everyone around you
is sitting with their head intheir hands rocking back and
forth.
So, whether it's a new offer,whether it is being an affiliate
for somebody else, whether it'sa collaboration with your
(20:12):
business buddy, no matter whatit is, have a look at what the
low hanging fruit is, where youcan adapt right now, where you
can potentially add that extraincome stream to your business,
and all of those elements aredefinitely going to help you go
into this next phase in business, ready to completely fly.
(20:35):
So I hope you've enjoyed thisshorty episode about how to
become a business money magnet,even when times are tough, and,
as always, if you've got anyquestions, please reach out.
We would love to hear from you.
My book Become a Business MoneyMagnet Simple Habits to Manage
your Money and Supercharge yourProfits, is available now, and I
(20:57):
would encourage you to grab acopy, because there's lots of
good stuff in there that I knowwill help your business thrive.
Until next time.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
flossycomau and make sure youhit subscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(21:28):
Catch you next time.
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey.
It's my business and I'll do itmy way, how they started,
rather than going harder to getmore focus on growing more with
(00:25):
what you have, what they learnedalong the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make?
Just because you can do itdoesn't mean that you should do
it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It's really important to remember that it's a long
game and, of course, we'll askthem for their secret sauce for
creating a successful business.
If you're not failing, you'renot doing it right.
You should be struggling attimes.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain, talk
solutions for those businesspain points, working smarter,
not harder, mindset and thechallenges of fitting it all in
(00:57):
with the demands of today's busylifestyle.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FlossieCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
(01:37):
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now withoutfurther ado.
Let's dive into today's episode.
Hello and welcome to thepodcast.
(02:06):
A few weeks ago, I sat down witha business bestie and we were
talking about the state ofbusiness here in Australia and
around the world, particularlysmall business, because, let's
be honest, the economyeverywhere, no matter what
country you're listening to thispodcast from, is a little bit
funky at the moment.
Things are expensive, peopleare not buying the way they used
(02:27):
to and, as I've said before,it's definitely not business as
usual.
So I thought, between that andall the questions that I got
after my Profit First podcastepisode, and if you haven't
listened to that one.
Jump on back over and take alisten.
Now it's episode 147.
(02:48):
I thought I would jump on todayand tell you that, although
times are tough yes, Icompletely acknowledge that, and
I know how tough they are forsmall business and the leads are
not as prevalent as they oncewere, and the people that you
are currently working with areprobably looking for great
(03:11):
bargains or discounts, this timewill pass.
In my 30 years of experience,I've been through this a couple
of times before.
It's definitely the winter ofbusiness, but rather than
listening to all the doom andthe gloom that surrounds us, I
think it's a real opportunityright now to go back to business
(03:33):
basics and get your businessready and set for when things do
improve.
Because one thing I know forsure things will absolutely
improve and it will probably befaster than you think.
So why not take this downtimeto really take a deep dive into
(03:53):
your business and look at somethings that are definitely going
to help you become the businessmoney magnet that you deserve
to be?
And these are things that youcan do even when times are tough
and, who knows, they might justmove the needle for you now, so
that you won't be waiting formonths or until things in
(04:15):
business in general improve.
So the first thing that I wantto talk about is mindset,
because, let's be honest, youjust need to turn on the news
and there's bad news about theeconomy and small business, or
interest rates or the cost offuel going up or insurances, or
how health insurance is nolonger affordable, or that you
(04:38):
can't rent a room anywherebecause it's out of reach and
there is a lack of affordablehousing around, and all that is
true.
Unfortunately, what happenswhen we're surrounded by all of
this negativity?
It starts to bring up for usall of those things that sit on
the negative spectrum in ourmindset.
(05:00):
If you had a money story aroundscarcity growing up and tend to
influence your money situationthrough that story, so maybe
your mindset around money is alittle bit fixed, or you feel
like you'll never have enoughmoney.
There's that scarcity mentalityor generally you're just
worried about money all of thetime.
Those sorts of negativemessages are definitely going to
(05:23):
trigger a response thatprobably isn't going to be
helpful right now, and whileit's hard to just give yourself
a pep talk and stay positive,the truth is that money mindset
and a positive money mindset.
Fostering that positive moneymindset, especially during tough
times, is really important.
So one of the tips that I cangive you right now is to watch
(05:47):
how you speak about money andyour business, because language
matters.
I heard someone say the otherday that when we're talking
about losing weight, we oftensay I just want to lose a few
kilos.
And the truth about losingsomething is, when you lose
something, you probably want tofind it again.
The idea behind that sort oflanguage was that if you lose
(06:10):
weight today, then you mightjust gain it back tomorrow,
because that sort of language isexactly what you're saying.
So, rather than saying I wantto lose weight maybe it's I want
to release a few kilos.
Release so that they go away,see you later and they never
come back.
So, while it might seem alittle bit silly, just thinking
about money in that positivesense, talking about money in
(06:34):
that positive sense might justhelp your mindset, even when all
the messages that you heararound you are not very helpful.
So, instead of oh, I've got noleads, it could be.
I'm actually working on thisavenue and this avenue to get
some more leads in my businessright now, and I'm looking
forward to that helping me.
So it's very much a change inthe way you talk about money,
(06:57):
you talk about your business,and hopefully that fosters a
more positive mindset.
The next thing that I think isreally important right now is to
take the time to focus on thefinancial foundations in your
business.
So for this term in Business,money Magnet my 12-month program
, which you can join at any time, by the way we're focusing on
(07:19):
profit.
So we started off by addressingthe elephant in the room and
talking about our mindset, andwe've done that.
And over the last few weeks,what we've done is we've really
taken a deep dive into ourbusiness.
So we started off by looking atthis business ideology that
making a profit in business isas simple as getting the revenue
(07:41):
up and the costs down.
So what were ways that we couldget our revenue up and get our
costs down?
And we began the process byreally taking a deep dive into
our pricing and by that, pullingtogether all of the elements
that create the price that youneed to charge for your service
(08:01):
or your product and making sureall of those elements were right
, but, most importantly,thinking about things like what
do I want my profit number to be?
Because, again, when businessis slow, we probably forego
profit.
What do I want my salary to beas we walk through business?
What do I want my salary to beas we walk through business?
(08:23):
Probably you're the last personwho gets paid when the cash
flow isn't coming in.
So we looked at all of thosethings and then what we did was
start to pull apart all of theexpenses that go into not just
our businesses, but there was anexercise where we also jumped
into all of those personalexpenses that we had as well.
People were saving money oninsurance and phone plans, both
(08:46):
business and personal.
It was a really valuableexercise Building those
financial foundations, reallyunderstanding what it costs you
to run your business,understanding how to read
reports to know what sort ofprofit that you want to make, to
get that cash flow managementset up in your business, to have
a regular date with yourself amoney Monday, a finance Friday
(09:10):
so you could explore all ofthose things and complete all of
those tasks that you need tocomplete in terms of the
financial side of your business.
All those things were importantbecause when you have them in
place, when you have those firmfinancial foundations, you're
more likely to make greatbusiness decisions because
(09:32):
everything is in place.
The next thing that you want tothink about, particularly now
and this goes back to profit ismaking sure that you do that
exercise that I was talkingabout, where you're really
having a look at what yourexpenses are, the salary that
you want to earn, the profitthat you want to take in your
business, how much you need tosave for taxes and into your
(09:53):
rainy day account, and thenlooking at that jumping off
point for your pricing, becausemost us, when a business is slow
, will have a knee-jerk reactionto just discount our products,
discount our services, and whileI don't mind a good discount,
I'm as on board with that as thenext person.
You can't run a business that'smodel is always discounting or
(10:17):
competing against someone elsevia discounts, because it's just
a race to the bottom.
So don't get involved in that.
Look at your pricing.
Look to price for profit,regardless of whether you have
10 new leads coming through thedoor or one, so that every time
you deliver a service, everytime you sell a product, that
you're actually making moneythat's going towards covering
(10:40):
your costs, and that you'remaking money and profit in your
business.
I think one of the things inaddition to discounting, that
people tend to do when thingsare a bit slow is they almost
become paralyzed.
They're not sure what to doabout their pricing, whether
they should slash their prices,discount, put prices up.
But maybe it's as simple aslooking at all of the different
(11:02):
things that you're offering toyour clients and really
streamlining those offers sothat what you do offer has
absolute value.
It's absolutely packed withvalue for your client and you're
delivering that in a way thatis easy for you, effortless for
you, but that is going to givethem the most bang for their
(11:22):
buck.
It could be that when you doyour pricing exercise, when you
have a look at the offers thatyou've currently got going and
you're thinking to yourselfpeople aren't buying my $2,000
offer, for example, my $2,000service package, or my offer at
$199 a month.
Maybe they'll buy at half thatprice or maybe they'll buy at a
(11:43):
third of that price.
So what is it that you canpackage up and deliver that is
still going to keep the lightson in your business but is going
to help those customers thatneed your help right now,
because people still need helpin their business right now.
As I said, this is really a timeto set those foundations, to
get everything firing insideyour business so that when
(12:06):
business does pick up, you'reready to go.
And through this time, throughthis lean time, you're also
fostering those relationshipswhere you're developing
relationships with people sothat you can really start to
push the needle when thingsimprove In my business.
For example, I've got a $27offer that I am going to be
(12:28):
sending out in July.
That offer is in conjunctionwith a business buddy of mine
and we're doing it because weknow that we've got products
that are genuinely going to helppeople.
So the idea is that we do lowoffer, high volume.
We hopefully then collect awhole lot of clients who are
interested in working with us inthe future.
(12:50):
So that's one way.
I've got a book that isavailable right now for pre-sale
.
So I have got a whole series ofoffers around that book to
encourage people not only to buybut to potentially buy and
experience what it's like towork with me as well.
So really important to look atyour pricing, look at your
(13:11):
offers and get those foundationsset up so that you have got
everything in place when thingsimprove.
Now, of course, behind thescenes, the back end of that
it's having all of those systemsand processes in place to
support your offer, to supportyour business, so that, when
things do escalate, whenbusiness does improve again and
(13:33):
I said it will, I promise youyou're ready to go you don't
have to worry about suddenlyfinding a VA or getting that new
system in place or gosh, how amI invoicing here, or what's the
payment gateway that I'm goingto be using.
All really important things tothink about now, when business
is a little quieter and youmight have that time on your
(13:55):
hands.
The other thing to think aboutnow is really cash flow.
So, in a business crisis, whenthings are a little slower, cash
flow is one of the things thatdries up the fastest, and it's
also the thing that can stop usin our tracks when it comes to
running our business.
So cash flow is about makingsure you've always got money in
(14:18):
the bank, knowing what's comingin and when and, more
importantly, knowing what yourliabilities are, what is going
out and when, and so I think,right now, it's super important
to have a look at your expenses,make sure that you are not
paying for something that youreally don't need right now,
something you could pause, evenif it's just for a few weeks or
(14:39):
a few months so that you justmake sure you've got that cash
flow in your business to notonly pay for your business to
keep running but to pay foryourself.
Really important that you keeppaying yourself to pay your
superannuation and also to payyour staff, because they're the
things that are going to keepyour business going.
The other thing that I want tomention about becoming a money
(15:03):
magnet a business money magnetwhen things are not business as
usual is that some of thebiggest success stories come out
of the lean times in business.
It's the businesses who canlook at what's going on around
them and adapt that are going tobe the most successful.
(15:25):
I was talking to a businessowner the other day and she had
actually been talking abouttalking to another business
owner, so it's a third or asecondhand story.
But she'd been talking aboutsomeone who bought a winery and
then COVID hit and so peopleweren't coming to the cellar
door.
They didn't have thatopportunity to walk in and try
(15:46):
the wine in the region which wasobviously that tourist element
was a big part of the sales fortheir winery.
They didn't have a greatdistribution model, they weren't
really well known, and so thisparticular business owner
thought okay, how can I adapt,how can I change things now when
business it's not business asusual, so that I can keep going?
(16:10):
I can keep my businesssurviving and hopefully thriving
through this period until COVIDis over and things start to
open up again.
And so that particular businessowner started a couple of side
businesses that not only helpedother business owners in the
district but also meant that shecould deliver information about
(16:32):
her winery and wines online.
Such smart ideas and thosecouple of side hustles are now
businesses that are just as bigas the winery that she bought.
So there's always possibilitiesto do something different, and
I'm sharing this because youmight be sitting back looking at
your business right now andthinking, well, what is it that
(16:55):
I can do?
Nobody's buying what I'mselling.
I might as well give up, Imight as well walk away and I've
heard that a couple of timesover the last few weeks, that's
for sure.
But I think now is the time toreally take a moment and look at
your business and see where youmight be able to adapt, where
you might be able to change yourbusiness or add something extra
(17:17):
to just to navigate these toughtimes, if you've been in
business for a while or you'vebeen doing something for a while
, then you've got moreexperience than someone who's
only been doing it for a month.
Perhaps share a mentoringsession or give a free workshop
on your area of expertise.
Keep giving to your community.
(17:39):
Start a newsletter, reach outto people, resurrect an old
newsletter.
Look at platforms like LinkedInor Pinterest, where you can
actually have a bit more of asay and collect the sort of
customers that will beinterested in buying your thing
and buying your new things asyou adapt during this time.
(18:03):
I think resilience is one of themost important parts of being a
business owner and, let's behonest, you definitely need to
have a thick skin in business.
But being able to really becomethat money magnet to thrive in
business when everything aroundyou is going pear-shaped often
(18:23):
comes back to consistency andresilience, and I think that
when you look at your businessnow, rather than feeling
negative and despondent aboutwhat's going on and I totally
acknowledge and get that mightbe the default now I think you
just need to pull on thatresilience muscle, exercise that
(18:45):
muscle and instead flip thestory, flip your mindset and
think okay, what is it that Ican do right now.
That is going to set myself upand set my business up for
success when things improve.
So, as I said, it's mindset.
It's looking at all of thosefinancial foundations making
(19:05):
sure you know what you'retalking about, that you've got
all the things in place that youneed to have in place.
That could be just dedicatedbusiness bank accounts.
That might be setting up acloud accounting file like Xero,
myob, quickbooks something likethat.
Looking at your pricing, makingsure that you are really focused
on the profit element in yourbusiness.
(19:27):
Whether you are turning over$40,000 or $400,000, profit is
the key to business success.
So make sure that you'repricing for profit, that you
know what your profit number isand that you've built that into
your business.
Looking after your cash flow,getting rid of some of those
expenses that you don't need.
Making sure that you arecontinuing to pay yourself, not
(19:51):
just for now but for the futureas well, and looking for those
opportunities to adapt andthrive when everyone around you
is sitting with their head intheir hands rocking back and
forth.
So, whether it's a new offer,whether it is being an affiliate
for somebody else, whether it'sa collaboration with your
(20:12):
business buddy, no matter whatit is, have a look at what the
low hanging fruit is, where youcan adapt right now, where you
can potentially add that extraincome stream to your business,
and all of those elements aredefinitely going to help you go
into this next phase in business, ready to completely fly.
(20:35):
So I hope you've enjoyed thisshorty episode about how to
become a business money magnet,even when times are tough, and,
as always, if you've got anyquestions, please reach out.
We would love to hear from you.
My book Become a Business MoneyMagnet Simple Habits to Manage
your Money and Supercharge yourProfits, is available now, and I
(20:57):
would encourage you to grab acopy, because there's lots of
good stuff in there that I knowwill help your business thrive.
Until next time.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
flossycomau and make sure youhit subscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(21:28):
Catch you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com